Today’s Top News in Kashmir Monitor Newspaper Massacre of Muslims in Assam Omar holds Modi guilty Firdous Hassan Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Saturday held Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi responsible for the killing of 32 Muslims in Assam. Addressing an election rally in Tangmarg area of Baramulla constituency, Chief Minister said that the killings were result of the Modi’s campaigning in Assam. He said that Modi through his speeches has pitted the local populace against Muslims. In Assam, 30 Muslims were murdered. Why? Because BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi made a speech there and tried to incite people against Muslims. This is a fact. This truth cannot be denied, Omar told an election rally at Tangmarg in Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency. Omar said that Modi, in his election rally in Assam three days earlier, had branded all Muslims living in that state as Bangladeshis, which resulted in the attacks on them. Three days earlier, he (Modi) went there and branded all Muslims as Bangladeshis and today 30 Muslims have been put to sleep in the grave, he added. “Nobody can deny it that Narendra Modi’s visit to Assam is the main reason behind the killing of 30 Muslims in the region. Only three days ago he (Modi) had visited Assam to address a rally where he has instigated people against the Muslims. If you try to divide people on communal lines or instill fear in their hearts, these will be the sorts of results,” he said. Omar Abdullah said that Modi has labelled the Muslims as Bangladeshi illegal immigrants in his speech which according to him has spread animosity regarding Muslims among the people. “It cannot be a coincidence that you run a campaign in that part of the country (Assam), label all Muslims as Bangladeshi illegal immigrants and then suddenly after three days thirty Muslims are killed. It is clearly, there is somewhere some connection,” he said Chief Minister also accused the BJP for attempting to divide the Jammu and Kashmir state into three parts. Referring to Modis statement holding National Conference leaders responsible for exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, Omar said the BJP leader had set out to insult all Kashmiris in the country. “Modi is to defame Kashmiris in the whole country. BJP is even trying its efforts to divide the Jammu and Kashmir into three different parts,” he said. Omar said, “It has become an imperative for secular forces in India to defeat the sectarian, communal and disruptive forces unleashed by Modi.” He emphasized that the vote in Kashmir could lead to strengthening the hands of Congress Prime Ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi. Omar Abdullah said country could not be ruled by fear and division. “We are so keen to see Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister of the country as he is not trying to scare people to vote for him. A country can’t be led by fear and division,” Omar said. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at the Congress for failing to protect the minorities, asking why the Prime Minister has not taken any action till now. I want to ask the PM. He is the Assam Rajya Sabha MP for 24 years. What has he done for the state? What did he do for fixing the security in the state? Bodo and immigrants from Bangladesh are creating violence. What is the Congress government doing there? BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Since Thursday, 32 people have died in clashes between Bodos and Muslims in the districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa and Chirang. The violence started when suspected Bodo militants killed 10 people in two separate incidents in Kokrajhar and Baksa. By Saturday morning, the toll had risen to 23. IT IS JUST EYEWASH HURIYAT REJECTS MAGISTERIAL PROBE BILAL KUCHAY Srinagar: Rejecting the magisterial probe ordered by Government into the Nawakadal killing, Chairman Huriyat Conference (M), Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Saturday demanded an impartial inquiry into the killing. The Huriyat (M) Chairman termed the government ordered probe just an eyewash and said that number of such inquiries have been ordered by Government in past but to no avail as they don’t have yielded any result. “It is not for the first time but there has been many such inquiries ordered by state government into the human rights violations in Kashmir but so far not a single soldier or policeman convicted in the violation of human rights have been punished. We reject the Government ordered inquiry and demand that there should be an impartial inquiry into the Nawakadal incident done by some neutral agency,” Mirwaiz said adding that “The people of Kashmir have lost their faith in the government ordered commissions and inquiries.” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq while condemning the continuous imposition of curfew in parts of Srinagar said that Government has used it a new tool to suppress the voices of Kashmiris. “Whenever an innocent person is killed with the bullet of security personnel, the state Government has opted to a new policy now that it imposes strict curfew in the city and other areas. It is a part of that policy under which the Government is trying to suppress the voice of Kashmiris,” he said. “Due to the continuous imposition of curfew in last four days, half the population of Srinagar city has been caged and people have to face lot of inconveniences,” he added. The state Government on Friday ordered magisterial probe into the killing of 24-year-old youth Bashir Ahmad Bhat in CRPF firing in Nawa Kadal area in downtown Srinagar on April 30. An official spokesman said Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Shailendra Kumar has ordered a magisterial inquiry to look into the death of Bashir Ahmad S/o Mohammad Shafi of Gratabal, Nawa Kadal, Srinagar allegedly during the CRPF firing at Nawa Kadal, Srinagar on April 30. “Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Shah has been appointed as Inquiry Officer. He shall submit the report along with recommendations within 15 days,” he said. Five others, including a woman were injured in the firing incident. One of the injured youth in April 30 firing has been kept on ventilator in SMHS after one of his fingers was amputated by doctors. Meanwhile, IGP CRPF, P K Singh had told to a local news agency that they will fully cooperate with the investigating agency to reach out to the circumstances which led to death of a youth. “I don’t want to say anything on this issue because it is a police subject as they are investigating the matter. But CRPF being a government agency will fully cooperate with the police in its investigations. We have already initiated court of Inquiry because CRPF personnel were also deployed there,” he said. BARAMULLA READIES FOR POLLS VOTER TURNOUT TO BE IMPORTANT FACTOR MUBASHIR BUKHARI Baramulla: With Baramulla parliamentary constituencies going to polls on May 7, it will be interesting to see whether voters will follow the trend of boycott like other two parliamentary constituency or they will go other way around. The Baramulla constituency is going to play an important role for both National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the seat had witnessed highest voter turnout among three parliamentary constituencies in the past. Since 1996 the voter turnout in the constituency has touched to 50 percent .It is noteworthy that in 1996, 46.65 percent voter turnout were recorded followed by 35.65 percent in 2004.The 2009 parliamentary election saw 41.84 percent voter turnout . Though the Baramulla has reputation of higher voter turnout in the past but one cannot rule out of the impact of recent odd events which include killing of a youth in Nawakadal and polling officer killing. Moreover, like other constituencies, Baramulla has its own pro-freedom pockets which can affect the voter turnout. With Sopore, old town Baramulla and Palhallan which comprise a huge populace being the strong pro-freedom zones, the voter percentage is likely to go down. The Baramulla parliamentary seat consists of 11, 51,725 voters including 6, 06,506 male voters and 5, 45,219 female voters. Out of 1612 polling stations in the constituency, 1018 have been declared hypersensitive and 498 sensitive. The seat has been traditionally with the NC and was represented several times by Saifuddin Soz before he was thrown out of the party for bringing down the Vajpayee government casting his single vote against the National Democratic Alliance. It was later represented by A.R. Shaheen in 1998, 2004 and in 2009 by Sharif Din Shariq. Though the number of candidates fighting for the North Kashmir Lok Sabha seat might be more this time compared to previous Lok Sabha elections but the main competitors, National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) believe it would not affect their vote-bank. With Peoples Conference and Engineer Rashid deciding to contest the votes in Kupwara are likely to see a four way split with all the parties- NC, PDP, PC and AIP all getting a fair share of votes. While NC is strong on Kupwara and Handwara, PDP has a good presence in Baramulla and Lolab. The Peoples Conference is strong Handwara while as Engineer Rashid has a strong presence in Langate. Experts say NC might get some benefit in the election because the party had forged a pre-poll alliance with Congress but it is believed that neither NC nor PDP can claim a cakewalk in Baramulla. NCs Sharif-ud-Din Shariq, who won from North Kashmir seat in 2009, is seeking re-election while senior PDP leader and former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh will be the main challenger. Baig won the assembly election from Baramulla while Shariq was defeated in the Langate assembly constituency by an independent, Engineer Rashid in 2008. Baig is believed to be well entrenched politically in Baramulla and his supporters assert that he will win only if there is a good voter turnout because most people, it is said, are sick and tired of the NC Government. The Baramulla constituency goes to the polls on May 7. Apart from AAP and AIP, Salam-ud-din Bajad of the Peoples Conference will also contest from Baramulla seat. The PC is believed to have a sizeable influence in areas of Kupwara district .In the 2009 LokSabha elections, Sajad Lone finished third in Baramulla after the PDPs Muhammad Dilawar Mir. The first Lok Sabha election was held here in 1967. The constituency has been represented in the Lok Sabha thrice by the Congress: in 1967, 1971 and 1996. NC candidates have won from here eight times: 1977, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009. Of the 15, the NC has seven legislators in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Five constituencies had elected the PDP. Langate and Gulmarg are represented by independents, one of whom, Ghulam Hassan Mir, the state agriculture minister, is part of the NC-Congress ruling alliance which is going to help National Conference.
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 07:46:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015